Recap 2009

Glass Fusing
In January I took a glass fusing class at Blue Dolphin Stained Glass store in San Diego. I started making glass pendants using a microwave kiln. Dennis bought me a glass kiln and I started making more and better jewelry, plates, bowls, spoon rests, and vases. In truth, they are cluttering up the place.
Other Hobbies
My knitting continued to progress at the same time. This year I concentrated on making socks and learning lace knitting. Mom relearned to knit this year after crocheting for many years. Dennis still plays his violin, although his time for practicing has diminished in direct relation to his work schedule.
Dog Diary
We lost two dogs this year: Ghost and Shadow, 13-year-old litter mates, half samoyed, half lab. They were our black and white bookends and we miss them.

Kindle-ites
Mom, Dennis and I have given up hardback books in favor of digital books on our Kindles. We LOVE the kindle! It's so easy to carry around, no more big, heavy books to pack and lug around when we travel, no more storage problems.
Sandy Creek Forest
Our tree planting is finally making a difference. From spring through fall you can barely see any of the buildings on the ranch from the road.
Back to the Mac
I now have an iMac in my home office along with the obligatory PC.
The Bells are Ringing
Dennis built a carillon that chimes at the hour and quarter hour and plays a tune at the half hour. He programmed it with Christmas carols that play all year round!
Travel
To make a long story short: Northern Italy and Switzerland in September and San Francisco in November. For Christmas, Dennis, Mom and I met my sister Angie and brother-in-law Gary in Branson, MO, for a week of nonstop entertainment. We loved it.
Ranch Projects
No house remodel, no garage, but we have plans to enlarge the guest house just a little. However, Dennis did remodel the garden, putting in some planter boxes and many vegetable plants.

Ok, that's a very quick recap of 2009. On to 2010.

I Had a Stroke and Forgot I Had a Blog

My sister and I were looking at her blog (2squirrels.blogspot.com) and I clicked on the link she had to my blog. OMG, the last entry was December 2008! How could I ever catch up? So my clever sister gave me the line for the title of this comeback blog.

I did have a stroke, but it was last March, not two years ago. Then I blew out my knee, but that was last August, so my excuses are pretty thin. I could just start with January 2011 as if the last two years didn't happen (wouldn't mind skipping 2010 actually), but my left brain won't let me. Therefore, I'll do a recap of 2009 and one of 2010, then I'll try to keep up. How's that sound?

We're Back

We made it! Shalla and I trailered from the barn to the mountains in little less than 40 minutes, arriving around 8:50 a.m. Joyce arrived with her horse around 9:00 and we were well down the trail by 9:15. It was a gorgeous day, blue sky and warm, but not hot. Perfect. Shalla started off a little hot, as in ready to go, but she was great all the way. A wonderful trail horse. Why did it take me 20 years to ride her? I guess I just wasn't ready. Anyway, we got back in one piece and all is well with the world. Horses are the best.

Really Catching Up

I can't believe it has been over a year since my last post in August 2007. It's almost the end of 2008! I either ran out of things to say or time to say it in.

But here I am just finishing up another Xmas Express newsletter (our 23rd) and getting ready to go for another trail ride in the mountains. I still ride with the same friend, Joyce, and normally the same horse, Doc. But today is a little different. It's cold, for one thing. The high Santa Ana winds we were having the past two days have died down so it should be a pleasant day. Today I am riding Shalla, one of our Arabian horses.

Catching Up

Missed the last couple of days. Thursday afternoon we had rain again--.28 inches. On Friday morning I did another head count on the geese and found that Lucky was missing. There is a very serious predator out there somewhere, and it or they have picked off all of the "leadership" of the geese flock. At this point, only one Chinese goose and 14 Canadians remain, plus Ralph, Jr., our only Muscovey duck.

Rain and Horses

Keeping in mind we live in a drought area (a desert, really), the thunderstorm we had yesterday was a doozy. It only lasted 20-30 minutes, but we got .30 inches of water in our rain gauge. Of course, when it was over, it felt like a wet blanket...a hot, wet blanket.

Today is trail ride day. I am meeting a friend in the mountains to ride the trails for 2-3 hours. It takes about 40 minutes to trailer my horse there, and another 40 minutes back, so it will take a good part of the day. However, since we are starting at 7 a.m., I'll be back home by 11:30 or so. It's supposed to be 101 degrees today, but we will probably be back before it gets above 95. Egads.

Walk the Dogs

As I was walking the dogs on the Sandy Creek Riding and Hiking Trail (1-mile trail around the ranch), I was thinking how happy it made me to be walking with my dogs: Spike, Ghost, Shadow and Lui. Spike is 12 now, and Ghost and Shadow will be 11 in October. They are getting old. It's very sad to think one day they will no longer be running along, sniffing, peeing and generally having a good time just being dogs.

Here's a picture of Ghost & Shadow in the snow.